Glacier not glacier

1986/12/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Hidrologia

The Hubbard Glacier is one of the existing in Alaska. This huge glacier (150 km long!) advances and can cause great disaster in the environment. The glacier is entering at a speed of 35 m/day in Disenchantment Bay and closing a fjord called Russel. This closure has turned the fjord into a lake in recent weeks. This new lake is filling with melted water and its level rose 16.8 meters by mid-August.

The new lake is "polluting" with fresh water and waste transported by the gallery. Thus, fish, sea dogs, porpoises and other communities trapped by the enclosure are in grave danger. Another danger of this increase in water levels is overflow. If the water level climbed 45 meters higher, then the lake would fringe at the back and the waters would pour into the Silu River.

Several environmental groups are doing great work to save the dogs and dungeons from the sea trapped in Lake Russel. It is not possible to save the fish, since being desalinating the water from the lake, they are already dead. The goal is for dogs and porpoises to starve. This rescue is dangerous. According to some geologists, the ice wall that closes the mouth of Lake Russel is very unstable and can break at any time. An unexpected break would generate a large stream of water and carry everything on the surface of the lake.

Breaking news indicates that the ice barrier that closed the Russel fjord has broken. No damage or accidents have occurred in the break and the level and state of the water is already original. However, there is deep suspicion that the Hubbard Glacier will close the Russel fjord again.